Santa's Village

Nothing worse than an amusement park being MOBBED in late November. That's what happens when it's a beautiful day in Northern New Hampshire. We only got to go on a few rides because of the lines. The lines were shorter in August two years ago, for God's sake! And of course, I had let Erika wear my coat so I was chilly the whole day.

The rest of Vermont was nice, but again, it woulda been more fun if it were 30 degrees with six inches of snow on the ground. Then we'd have just been dealing with skiers, I suppose. Maybe Erika and I will retire up there, it's so purty all year around! And close to Dartmouth, that helps, too!

Vermont

I wonder if it's going to snow this weekend in Vermont while I'm there with mom, dad, Erika, and the girls. Last time we had Thanksgiving up there we got 10 inches of snow. This of course means extra clothes to pack in case there is a blizzard. Should be fun, as long as the house mom and dad are renting comes with cable to watch the games on.

I don't understand the allure of Detroit getting the Thanksgiving Day game every year, especially since they play indoors in such a sterile environment. If it were 40 degrees and raw and a little muddy out there, now THAT would be a cool tradition.

Bo knows....

I had no idea that Bo Schembechler coached under Woody Hayes. That's kinda jarring to read about...plus, I'm a little embarrassed not to have heard that SOMEWHERE once before.

I can only hope to see some of the game tomorrow, what with kid patrol and then going to drop off tables at my mother-in-law's in NY. I'm not even sure she has a TV. (gulp!) Also, she'd better come up with something good for dinner tomorrow!

6 days until turkey, baby! Turkey day in Vermont. That can only mean maple syrup in the gravy! (no?)

Theo be nimble, Theo be quick.....

Let's just hope Theo doesn't burn off his f-bombin' dick, with the negotiations for the new Dice Man in Boston.

I wonder why the small market teams don't just up and form their own league amongst themselves.....Pirates, Royals, Twins, etc. Yeah the Twins would romp probably, but good for them, at least they wouldn't feel the pressure to compete against the big spenders. And big spenders wouldn't feel like complete flops if they lose 100 games, because they'd be losing to other big spenders.

My thought is that no American city could stand the idea of being "relegated" without putting up a whiny lawsuit. Maybe the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Yankees will take their balls and go home, they just don't feel like playing with some of the other kids. Also, I wonder what percentage of a small team's gate for the year comes from those 3 sellouts a year when NY comes to town.

Fried cheddar cheese is good but oily and salty. Fried sprinkled parmesan is awesome, but not so common because I rarely fry stuff with parmesan cheese amidst the ingredients.

Apparently there are NO good college football teams this year. Every team with a good record did it by beating nobodies. And all the teams with losses got them from good teams.

Fried American cheese

ever have this? Take a non-stick pan, slap down a slice of cheese, and let it cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes...flip it over when it's orange enough to do. There's a restaurant in my hometown that serves its burgers with a mound of it coming out of the bun. But we always break it off and eat it separately. That stuff's actually dry, but if you undercook it a bit, it becomes chewier....much more satisfying.

Mercury crosses the sun

On Wednesday, according to reports.

I wish I'd noticed the Wednesday part. I actually looked out the window here at work and gave myself the sun spots in my vision....thinking I might see a dot on the sun if I glanced quickly enough.

It really IS just like looking at cleavage, I guess....you get a peek, and look away!

It was a lava flow

That was the drink in Hawaii...

Pats lost last night, thank goodness I missed it. Went to the statue of liberty in NYC Sunday...that required the early wake-up. I had no idea we couldn't actually go inside the statue. Talk about wanting a reason to commit a federal offense. Too bad it wouldn't be like, sneaking into a different movie theater, on the scale of criminal activity.

Truth be told, I've never done THAT either. I'm such a goody-goody it's sick, huh?

Still haven't ever been over the Brooklyn Bridge, we drove past the turn we needed and ended up leaving Manhattan up the west side. That sucked.

Started the gingerbread men puzzle I ordered from Springbok with the kids. I'm going to call them out on crappy workmanship AGAIN. This time the image has a big wrinkle in it, like they didn't apply it to the cardboard right. This sucks, springboks used to be freakin' awesome puzzles.

Snacks

I am pissed that Nabisco apparently discontinued Twigs. They don't even show up on their website any more. Sesame-cheese snack sticks, what's not to like??!!

Anyways, another comment here is about Bachman's Jax. They are more fun than Cheetos because they have varying textures from curl to curl. But today I found some cheese leftovers at the bottom of the bag. Like, just the cheese without the corn underneath it, in little packed clumps. Wow are they high in sodium that way. But extra-tangy!

Snyder's Buffalo pretzel bits are the bomb. Also their jalapeño ones, too. Those are good snacks. Erika and I are thinking of awarding internally a "food/beverage of the year". Last year's winner we realized was Coke Zero. This year we've already got some nominees.....Yoplait light thick-n-creamy key lime yogurt, for instance. There was a tropical drink we had in Hawaii at every restaurant, I forget what it's called now...is it a wave runner? It's frozen with yellow and red layers. The pumpkin ravioli from our wedding is certainly worthy of nomination, too.